Des Randall steps down as Timon basketball coach

The recent unexpected changes in administrative personnel at Bishop Timon-St. Jude has resulted in another domino falling as basketball coach Des Randall stepped down after two seasons.

Randall made the announcement on Twitter and later confirmed it to the News on Friday.

Randall said he made the decision to resign even though the school wanted him to remain as coach.

Randall’s reasons for leaving included Timon’s decision not to renew the contract of principal Michele Battin which in turn led to the resignation of Charlie Comerford as athletic director and football coach three weeks ago.

“I’m not sure what direction they’re going to replace them so those are the two big things that weighed on me to make this decision,” Randall said. “For what I want to do, being able to run the program and do things the way I need to do them to be successful … I just felt the best decision was to move on.”

An email message was left for school president Kevin McLaughlin.

While the school did name an interim principal Friday, Randall said that did not play a role in his decision. Randall said he had already crafted his resignation letter and was in the process of emailing it to his superiors when he received word of the appointment of Linda L. Cimusz.

“For two years I truly had the best coaching job in the state,” Randall tweeted when he announced his resignation. “That was largely due to the great partnership and friendship I had with the best AD in NYS who is no longer at Timon.”

Randall thanked his players, Comerford and Battin and the Timon community for the support they showed him during his time with the school.

Randall was an assistant coach at Canisius when it won the New York State Federation Class A championship in 2015. Shortly after that triumph, he accepted the head coaching position at Timon.

Randall guided the Tigers to 13-12 and 18-7 overall records during his tenure. This past season, Timon defeated three top-ranked Buffalo News large schools (Canisius, Park and St. Francis) en route to earning a share of the Monsignor Martin High School Athletic Association regular-season title with St. Francis. The Tigers lost a close semifinal contest to eventual Manhattan Cup Class A champion Canisius.

While the Tigers graduated two All-Western New York picks from that squad, there were several underclassmen who contributed to the team’s success.

However, Randall confirmed that one of them, his younger brother Juston Johnson, won’t be back as Johnson is looking to transfer to another school now that Randall won’t be on the sideline. Johnson, who will be a junior, also was a standout football player at receiver last year for the Tigers.

“It was extremely hard (to make this decision),” said Randall, a West Seneca West graduate who played college football at University of Maine. “Obviously, I saw myself being there longer (than two years). Everything I built, it was hard to walk away.”

Randall’s resignation means Timon has two high-profile coaching vacancies and an athletic director position to fill. The school is in the process of searching for a candidate to take over the football program.

In other news, South Park coach Tim Delaney confirmed that two-time All-Western New York lineman Jeremiah Sanders has registered to return to the school.

Sanders helped South Park become the first Buffalo Public Schools football program to win a state title in 2015. He transferred to Timon in a stunning move days before the start of the 2016 season.

South Park must file a transfer waiver and it must be approved by Section VI in order for Sanders to be athletically eligible for the coming season.

Miguel Rodriguez– Miguel Rodriguez covers high school sports at The Buffalo News. Since joining The News in 2003, he has also covered boxing, mixed martial arts, the Buffalo Bills, all levels of ice hockey — including two IIHF World Junior Tournaments — and college sports.